Toned legs and a flat stomach aren’t the only benefits of working out. According to a research review in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, regular exercise can help cut your risk of more than 20 illnesses, including cancer and heart disease.

‘Exercise is essential for losing and maintaining weight loss,’ says sports scientist Nick Morgan, ‘but the other benefits are just as important.’ Here’s what exercise does to keep you healthy, happy and alive!

Brain

Staying active cuts your risk of dementia and age-related memory loss by increasing the size of the hippocampus, the area of the brain that makes memories. A 40,000-person Norwegian study found that those who engage in regular activity of any intensity are less likely to develop symptoms of depression.

Breasts

Brisk walking for as little as one and a quarter hours every week can help reduce oestrogen levels in the body, which may lower your breast cancer risk by 18 per cent!

Bones

Bone-thinning osteoporosis now affects around one in three women in the UK, according to the latest research. Taking part in a 45-minute Step aerobics class, three times a week, will help boost bone density, especially in your spine, legs and heels. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) also reports that heavy resistance training may increase bone mass, as it places strain on the bones of the joint you are working.

Appetite

Intense exercise can reduce levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates your appetite, while raising levels of the peptide YY, which lowers appetite. A study in the journal Appetite also found that a brisk 15-minute walk decreased chocolate cravings by 12 per cent.

Heart

Not only will exercise add about four years to your life, it can also lower your systolic blood pressure (the top number that measures your blood pressure while the heart is beating) by as much as five to 10mmHg (millimetres of mercury). This is as good as some blood pressure medications. Aim for 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week.

Pancreas

Lifting weights and upping your lean muscle mass could lower your insulin resistance, reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes. For every 10 per cent increase in muscle mass, the risk of pre-diabetes should drop by 12 per cent.

Gut

Three to five weekly workouts of 20-60 minutes of vigorous activity is an effective treatment for IBS, according to a Swedish study. Demanding workouts improve bowel movements, and relieve gas and constipation.

Sex drive

Around 20 minutes of cardio exercise gets your body aroused faster and more intensely for a bit of rough and tumble. Not only that, lifting weights can also cause testosterone surges, and women with more testosterone tend to be more aroused and enjoy sex more.

Paige Hathaway

PLEASE READ: Life is your greatest teacher. Annoyance teaches you patience. Abandonment teaches you how to stand on your own two feet. Anger teaches you forgiveness and compassion. Anything that has power over you teaches you how to get power back. Hate teaches you unconditional love. Fear teaches you courage and anything you can’t control teaches you how to let go...

I have learned many things in life from allowing my experiences to shape me. I firmly believe that life tests our strengths and equip us to endure what our future has in store. Heartache, hardship and physical turmoil are all just tests. Life won’t allow us to go through things that it knows we can’t handle. The question is WILL YOU BE STRONG ENOUGH to fight the battle? Will you let the storms of life pass and allow yourself to become a better person because of it... You can let life to be your greatest teacher or you can let life defeat you because of it. ✨🐛🦋 #MondayMotivation

Your right on point, besides persevering through a catastrophic accident I have learned how to forgive more and inspire others that need help.

10 - 1 day 2 hours ago

PLEASE READ: Hmmm Without contradicting you, because I respect you. Maybe we could look at this another way. Life teachers you nothing, life is just time. Your actions over time mould your character. We are obviously here to learn. Abandonment teaches you where to place your love. Anger teaches you how to function with control. Nothing has power over you unless you submit. Hate is an internal justice mechanism, it is perfectly justified to hate injustice or cruelty etc. Fear is a survival mechanism, it is up to us to discern the amount of danger associated with the fear. Ultimately, we can control nothing but ourselves and our actions. We are what we do. There is heaps more...But see ya next time. ♥️

3 - 22 hours 37 minutes ago

Yo gorgeous, how was Cleveland? Did it treat you right. All you had to do is text me and I would have been there. I guess there is always next time... Rawr

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